Tiny Fey shared that her favorite line from the original Mean Girls movie was, "You go, Glen Coco," and that the character was named after her brother's friend when they were growing up.
The real Glenn Cocco is a southern California dad who has awkwardly dealt with his name recognition for years and has recently opened up about his bizarre fan-favorite status.
He told Yahoo Entertainment:
“I get a laugh sometimes when I purchase something using my credit card."
"There are a lot of different generations exposed to the movie, so sometimes it’s inescapable.”
The first Mean Girls comedy movie was released in 2004.
Written by Fey, Mean Girls instantly became a cult classic phenomenon that has gone on to spawn a Broadway musical adaptation of the same name that has now become a musical movie remake that will debut in theaters on January 12.
Glen Coco was a minor character from the original film which featured the North Shore High junior in a classroom scene with Gretchen Wieners and Cady Heron.
In the scene, Damian Leigh—played by Daniel Franzese—enters the classroom dressed as Santa and hands out candy cane grams, four of which are given to Coco.
He says the famous line while tossing candy canes:
"'Glen Coco? FOUR for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!'"
Although Glen Coco is not a central figure in the story and is never seen again in the film, the character's fun-to-say name has since become ingrained in the minds of moviegoers.
You can watch the scene in the clip below.
Mean Girls | "You Go Glen Coco!" (Full Scene) | Paramount Moviesyoutu.be
While promoting the latest musical incarnation of the film, Fey talked about the person behind the memorable name withFandango and said:
“It was just my brother’s friend’s name … when I was writing the movie the first time, I was just using random names.”
“Now I’ve ruined his life. He’s really nice about it, but he’s just a dad living here in Los Angeles.“
"Thanks again, Glenn, for not being mad about it!”
You can watch a TikTok video of the interview, here.
Fans of the movie shared their thoughts on the name that has entered the pop cultural zeitgeist.
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The Mean Girls musical pays homage to Glen Coco in the song "Revenge Party" where the character Damian Hubbard says the iconic line, to which the ensemble echoes back:
"Glen Coco, Glen Coco, Glen Coco!"
The real Glenn Cocco has been a good sport about it all.
“It’s funny to me that Tina thinks she ruined my life," he said.
As Fey mentioned, Cocco has been longtime friends with Fey's brother Peter.
They all grew up in the same neighborhood outside Philadelphia and they went to the same high school and college.
He recalled a time when he visited Fey's parents in Pennsylvania, and they mentioned seeing the scene with his name after watching a rough cut of the original Mean Girls on VHS.
“I promptly forgot about it, but when Tina invited me to the West Coast premiere, I was still in the cut,” recalled the now 61-year-old.
He added:
“I may have been the only one who laughed at it during that screening.”
Cocco is a film editor and is familiar with the common practice of using friends' names in films.
He also commented on Fey's brilliant writing, saying:
“The script is so funny, there are multiple lines you can quote from it. It’s no different from young men quoting a Bill Murray or John Hughes film.”
Cocco noted that the teasing and jokes surrounding his name, including a Target T-shirt with the famous line, have all "really been harmless."
He said:
“My friends and family all get a kick out of it. It’s just the name that gets recognized, not me."
But he humbly said that despite the name recognition:
"I’ve never even been able to get a restaurant reservation because of it.”
You can see Fey reprise her role as Ms. Norbury in the Mean Girls musical adaptation in theaters starting January 12.
Will we see Glen Coco in the new film? We'll have to wait and see.